Industry Outlook

The best way to challenge assumptions is by taking the subjective piece of our own lived experience temporarily out of the equation and evaluate hard data.  Even as I write that I cringe a little bit because even data can be subjective when misunderstood or misused.  So it's important to get to a core understanding of what the data is truly telling you and then compare that with your subjective experience.  

Not all subjective experience is bad, and in some instances, data can be misleading for a wide variety of statistical and mathematical reasons.  But as a result it's important to use data as the driver for new decisions, but not the impartial and complete determinant.  Business will always involve a human component that can't be quantified and that remains a critical piece of the ultimate decision making process.  But those businesses who attempt to challenge the status quo without consulting the raw data they have access to will find themselves running into roadblocks or unmet expectations.

As a result, I believe that the ability to bridge the gap between data analysis and business operations is a critical skill that will increasingly be necessary for the payments companies of the future.  Investing in individuals with these skills is not enough.  It must be a paradigm adopted by the top and advocated down through the organization in order to be effective.  It's not enough to have a few "oracles" with this ability--it's critical to create systems to infuse this approach and mentality in even the newest members of your organization.

That is a large reason why I am so focused on data analytics as opposed to data science or software engineering.  In my view data analytics is that ability to take data insights and superimpose the business reality on those insights to drive increased operational and financial performance.  It is also why I am passionate about the democratization of data.  

Democratization of data is more than just allowing end users to create their own reports.  It's creating an infrastructure that allows them to create reports that matter to them and ask questions of their data that can inform their decision making processes.  Without the democratization of data, you can't achieve an organization that is truly data driven.